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When is "faster" internet really just the same speed? When you haveTime Warner's "Everyday Low Price Internet", evidently.....

When is "faster" internet really just the same speed? When you haveTime Warner's "Everyday Low Price Internet", evidently.....

For the past few years I've used Time Warner cable Internet. The
price was about $20 a month originally, then $25, for 1 megabit per
second speeds. That was fine 99.9% of the time, but occasionally
(around once a month) I have to work with high resolution graphics
images (downloading, & uploading to send to my editor) When I'm doing
that, it can get quite annoying.

I was shopping around last month, thinking about switching to
Frontier Internet - 3 mbps for $30 a month, when I came across an
article saying Time Warner was increasing their Internet Lite to 2
Megabits per second nationwide, and dropping the price to $15 a month as
of early November. I figured what the heck, I'll be very happy with
twice the current speed, especially considering they are dropping the
price! Evidently they were feeling competition from DSL & other
internet providers, who were starting to offer faster speeds for lower
prices in many areas.

I waited a month, then did internet speed tests. It doesn't matter
whether I am hooked up wirelessly or with Cat5, I get the same exact
speeds at various times of the day - 1 megabit upload speeds, and 1
megabit download speeds. I have not seen it vary more than 5%, ever.
My cable modem can handle 50x this speed, and the simultaneous dual band
router can definitely handle many times this speed. I am getting
exactly the "up to 1 megabit" speed that I was getting under the old
"Internet Lite" tier.

I finally called Time Warner today and asked when I would see the
increased speed. I thought that maybe for some reason I was still set
up under the old settings that had my speed maxed at the 1 mbps. She
said that as long as I am getting 1 megabit per second, I am right where
I should be. The lady told me that despite the "up to 2 megabits per
second" rating, most customers nationwide are reporting download speeds
from 760k to 1 megabit per second. I told her that the website says "up
to 2 megabits", and that I have never seen more than half that speed. I
specifically asked her if I should be happy always getting 50% of the
speed listed, and she said yes. I was rather surprised by her candid
answer. She DID say that under certain circumstances I might see 2
megabits per second. I asked her under what circumstances I could
expect to see that speed, and she could not provide specifics.

I should have said "do those specific circumstances happen to entail
me sending you more money each month?" :-)

I'm starting to think this was all a marketing gimmick, and that there
has actually been no change at all in the speed customers are getting.
Should we be happy getting half of the "up to" speed all of the time? I
guess since I always got the "up to" speed 100% of the time before (when
it was 1 megabit per second), I had just assumed I would also do the
same now that it is 2 megabits per second, but this doesn't seem to be
the case. Was anyone else out there under the old "Internet Lite" (aka
the new "Everyday Low Price Internet") plan? Have any of you seen a
speed increase lately? Thanks!

When is "faster" internet really just the same speed? When youhave Time Warner's "Everyday Low Price Internet", evidently.....

On Wednesday, December 4, 2013 9:30:20 AM UTC-8, Ohioguy wrote:

You should be disappointed. Call your provider and tell them you want up to 5mbps and you're willing to pay for it. That way when you still get 1 you can feel good that one day, under the right circumstances you'll maybe get that "lightening speed" you've heard so much about.

When is "faster" internet really just the same speed? When youhave Time Warner's "Everyday Low Price Internet", evidently.....

You should be disappointed. Call your provider and tell them you want up to 5mbps and you're willing to pay for it. That way when you still get 1 you can feel
good that one day, under the right circumstances you'll maybe get that
"lightning speed" you've heard so much about.

Ha! Exactly - everything is worded as "up to" whatever speed they
select. If I'm regularly getting 50% of the advertised speed at this
level, why would the other levels be any different? It seems to me that
they set an arbitrary speed, and that is what people get - not the "up
to" speed. I wish everything was advertised with "at least" - then you
would know what you are truly going to get for your $.

When is "faster" internet really just the same speed? When youhave Time Warner's "Everyday Low Price Internet", evidently.....

On Wednesday, December 4, 2013 11:35:02 AM UTC-8, Ohioguy wrote:
You should be disappointed. Call your provider and tell them you want up to 5mbps and you're willing to pay for it. That way when you still get 1 you can feel

good that one day, under the right circumstances you'll maybe get that

"lightning speed" you've heard so much about.

Ha! Exactly - everything is worded as "up to" whatever speed they

select. If I'm regularly getting 50% of the advertised speed at this

level, why would the other levels be any different? It seems to me that

they set an arbitrary speed, and that is what people get - not the "up

to" speed. I wish everything was advertised with "at least" - then you

would know what you are truly going to get for your $.

"Up to" is a sure sign of B.S.. Another one is "per month", I don't want to know what payments might look like, I want to know how much it cost. And "30% off". 30 percent off of what? Why not 120% off? Why not a million!!!?

And could someone please explain the difference between a "door buster" and a "blow out"? Does the number of exclamation points affect the final price?

How can they be selling mattresses for the lowest price ever? I would think in caveman times a mattress wouldn't cost more than a few bones and a rock.

And if it's truly free, what do I have to buy another? Or pay shipping and handling.

Oh now I've gotten started. How dare they tell me "plus shipping and handling"? It's either $9.99 or it's not. I've never gone to the store and been told onions are $0.49 a pound (plus S&H). I'm not having someone come into my living room and lie to me.

Excuse me, I'm going out to give the postman or someone a piece of my mind...